Banking on facts

When I first came to Whitefish a few years ago, after wandering for a while around town, one of my first thoughts was that it was a pretty big mistake for someone to be constructing a new bank building right on the corner of Baker and Second.

It was obvious even to me that the intersection was going to be a major bottleneck in the city's future, and extra turn lanes would soon be a necessity. I thought the city officials were remiss in their duties for allowing the new construction.

Now it appears from recent Pilot articles that there is much more to the story. From what has been written so far, it is clear that there were many red flags raised along the bank's planning process. Enough so, that it is reasonable to expect that any reasonable person would have been wary of building on the site, and would have sought irrefutable verification from public officials that there would be no problem in the future, particularly before spending $3 million.

The current legal battle should determine the facts. After the dust settles it would be good if public tax dollars weren't used to compensate private entities for losses due to any poor judgement by their officials.

Joe Lichatowich

Whitefish